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The Madison, Tenn., dealership is now operating as Serra Chevrolet-Buick-GMC.

The purchase brings the Nashville-area dealership back into the Grand Blanc-based Serra Automotive network three decades after Serra's founder, Al Serra, launched the dealership with Tom Bannen.

"Over time, Mr. Bannen bought out my father," Serra Automotive President Joe Serra told Crain's. "Now, 30 years later, Tom is going to retire, so I bought it from him."

Nashville is a market Serra Automotive had an interest in getting back into, given its growth, he said.

Serra said Barry Carver, a dealer operator who worked with him on Serra Chevrolet in Bartlett, Tenn., has come in as an equity partner in the Madison dealership, which he will operate. The dealership employs about 150 people, Serra said, and plans are to keep them on.

"Any time you make an acquisition like this, usually the greatest asset you get are the associates," he said. "Our plan is to grow with them."

Serra Automotive posted more than $1 billion in total revenue last year, he said.

With this most recent acquisition, the Serra Automotive network operates 45 automotive franchises from 31 dealership locations in seven states, including Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, New Jersey and Colorado.

That includes dealerships in Grand Blanc, Okemos, Washington Township, Southfield and Farmington Hills.

Serra Automotive ranks 23rd in the nation on the Automotive News ranking of dealership groups by unit sales of new vehicles.